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The Fate of the World
- Author
- Bill McGuire
- Narrator
- Kaffe Keating
- Publisher
- HarperCollins Publishers
- Publish Date
- 21 May 2026
- Run Time
- 8 hours 38 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
What to expect
Why past climate change tells us it's almost too late.
A warning and a rallying-cry.
'Read it and weep, or read it and win' Chris Packham
A global refugee crisis. Extreme storms. Agriculture devastated. Economic ruin. Societal collapse. These are not just possibilities but likely outcomes of our ongoing failure to stem greenhouse gas emissions — and in our lifetimes. This alarming book explains why.
The Fate of the World is a 4.6-billion-year history of the Earth, putting contemporary global heating in the context of geological epochs and periods to reveal what past climate change can tell us about our planet’s future. It highlights with unflinching realism how what’s happening now compares with what happened in deep time — and explains the devastating impacts that are now more likely than not.
Renowned expert Bill McGuire reveals that our climate already all but matches that of the last interglacial period — the Eemian — when sea levels were 6 to 9 metres higher, and that it is on track to mimic the Pliocene period, when giant camels roamed the Arctic, as soon as the 2030s. Later this century, parts of our world could be experiencing double-figure temperature rises as we continue to wind the clock back 50 million years in a couple of centuries — and without urgent preparation, our civilization is very poorly placed to survive.
Notwithstanding the urgency of the message, this is a hopeful book. The future will be forbidding, but every tonne of carbon we do not emit will make it less so. We can all do our bit, and we must.
If you read just one book on the climate crisis, make it this one.
Critics Review
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'This is the book that brings the frog to the boil. Earth’s catastrophes and their stark consequences are explained in sharp truths – and it bloody hurts. Read, learn, think and change our future history.’ Chris Packham
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‘The human story is the story of the Earth, and the next chapter will be written by us. Bill McGuire places our predicament in the context of deep time, revealing how as architects of our fate we must take emergency action to avoid disaster.’ Tony Juniper CBE
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'This is a book that is both instructive to the general reader and corrective to those who would use junk science in an attempt to deny climate change.' Observer
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'A fascinating and quietly terrifying read.' The Times
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'Standout' Financial Times
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'Sobering' Irish Times
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'If you think the climate crisis is peripheral to your life, I dare you to read this book.' Mike Berners-Lee
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'Climate science runs deep and wide. It fights fair, stripping away ignorance, confusion and lies, and it points the way to the best possible future humankind can still expect. Bill McGuire is an authoritative and mightily inspiring contributor to that collective scientific endeavour, making The Fate of the World an indispensable primer for our troubled times.' Jonathon Porritt
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‘If you choose to read this book, you need to be prepared for grim truths and tough prognoses, or feel part of some larger wave of responsive action. If you are truly ready – it might just set you free.’ Rupert Read
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'I can think of very few climate scientists who combine their expertise with the courage to rage against the obscene criminality that is being imposed upon our children. Bill McGuire is one of them, as his book brilliantly exemplifies.' Roger Hallam
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'A stark, science-led warning: Bill McGuire lays bare a climate crisis shaped by deep time – and our choices now.' Bylines Cymru
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'The best climate book I've read in ages. Five stars.' Brian Clegg, Popular Science
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Details
- Author
- Bill McGuire
- Narrator
- Kaffe Keating
- Duration
- 8 hours 38 minutes
- Release Date
- 21 May 2026
- ISBN
- 9780008806569
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- HarperCollins Publishers
- Genre
- Climate change, The Earth: natural history: general interest, Climatology and climate modelling, Social impact of environmental issues, Greenhouse gas emissions technologies
Synopsis
Why past climate change tells us it's almost too late. A warning and a rallying-cry. 'Read it and weep, or read it and win' Chris Packham A global refugee crisis. Extreme storms. Agriculture devastated. Economic ruin. Societal collapse. These are not just possibilities but likely outcomes of our ongoing failure to stem greenhouse gas emissions — and in our lifetimes. This alarming book explains why. The Fate of the World is a 4.6-billion-year history of the Earth, putting contemporary global heating in the context of geological epochs and periods to reveal what past climate change can tell us about our planet’s future. It highlights with unflinching realism how what’s happening now compares with what happened in deep time — and explains the devastating impacts that are now more likely than not. Renowned expert Bill McGuire reveals that our climate already all but matches that of the last interglacial period — the Eemian — when sea levels were 6 to 9 metres higher, and that it is on track to mimic the Pliocene period, when giant camels roamed the Arctic, as soon as the 2030s. Later this century, parts of our world could be experiencing double-figure temperature rises as we continue to wind the clock back 50 million years in a couple of centuries — and without urgent preparation, our civilization is very poorly placed to survive. Notwithstanding the urgency of the message, this is a hopeful book. The future will be forbidding, but every tonne of carbon we do not emit will make it less so. We can all do our bit, and we must. If you read just one book on the climate crisis, make it this one.
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